black moor question

[smk83]

Hello all - I recently started a new tank (my first!!) and just got done cycling it last night. I added one baby black moor today...it's a 55g tank. During the cycling process, I added a few pinches of fish food flakes to get the cycle going. My black moor seems to be enjoying his new tank, however he is swimming the bottom of the tank to find whatever food he can....my worry is that the flakes I added during the cycling process are still at the bottom and he will continue eating them. Will this result in over feeding? the fish store hadn't fed the little guy today, so they suggested feeding when I got him home. I gave him three pellets of hikari, without even realizing there may be flakes at the bottom of the tank....

should I be worried about over feeding?

 

[Cornstar]

Depending on what flakes you used, high quality flakes dissolve into the water.

 

[Congoman]

The only dangers to over feeding are building up of excess nutrients in the water, making it hard for the bio filter to keep up. As far as overfeeding your fish it will just help them grow faster. If they are t hungry they won't eat.

 

[Congoman]

With goldfish though you want to be a little more careful about overfeeding as they produce a lot more waste then most other fish. My suggestion is slap two aqua clear 110's on the back, that should be plenty of filtration for goldfish

 

[smk83]

I just got something quick from petsmart as I wanted to just use the flakes during the cycling process....i think there are still some at the bottom, because the little guy is only swimming on the bottom of the tank, constantly poking his face in the gravel. Any way I can get him to swim further up top? should I skip the hikari tomorrow? I'm new to all this

 

[smk83]

thanks congo man. I have one marineland emperor (280 gph) currently, and another one in the mail on the way which should be here in the next day or two. It's a 55g tank, so I'm guessing two 280gph filters should suffice....thoughts?

 

[Congoman]

thanks congo man. I have one marineland emperor (280 gph) currently, and another one in the mail on the way which should be here in the next day or two. It's a 55g tank, so I'm guessing two 280gph filters should suffice....thoughts?

It will surly be sufficient esp. for one goldfish. I am a fan of massive filtration though I have about 200 gal worth of filtration on my 55 lol.

 

[Congoman]

I just got something quick from petsmart as I wanted to just use the flakes during the cycling process....i think there are still some at the bottom, because the little guy is only swimming on the bottom of the tank, constantly poking his face in the gravel. Any way I can get him to swim further up top? should I skip the hikari tomorrow? I'm new to all this

Vaccum out your gravel (he's just scavenging for food @ the bottom). Try feeding after an hour or so he should go right for it. If not eventually he will learn that when you drop stuff in his tank it means food and he will shoot right to te top everything you approach

 

[smk83]

I'm planning on adding one more oranda in the next few weeks, once I get used to the black moor. good advice on the filtration though. have already invested the money in the 280gph filters....hopefully the two filters will be sufficient. You live, you learn. the lady at the pet store (mind you this is an aquatic store) seems to always give me advice contrary to what these forums say...i'm starting to feel she may not know what she is talking about.

 

[Congoman]

You will encounter that esp at the less specialized LFS's. PM me the advice she gave you if you don't mind.

 

[Congoman]

Thanks for that info... To answer your question about the bacteria in a bottle a lot of people on here say it doesn't work. It seems your understanding of what "cycling" means it vague. All the bacteria in a bottle is supposed to do is booste the ammo is cycle. I'm not trying to be condescending g so I apologize if I offend you.im just trying to share some knowledge. I can break down how the ammonia cycle works in a PM no need to clog up the thread w/all that.

 

[Congoman]

As far as your other two questions the one 280 will be enough the cartridge will just have to be replaced more often and you will have to do larger/more water changes to keep the nitrates and nitrites at acceptable lvls. As far as the food it's obv your goldfish is a scavenger so I would assume sinkers would be the way to go. My gdfish knowledge is pretty general I have never really kept them myself.

 

[smk83]

not offended at all...

I went through a pretty detailed article here (written by eco something) on fishless cycling. it seems like the BB in the bottle process is way too quick (she told me to come back after 24 hours and was ready to sell me some fish....). Just didn't seem right to me. the fishless cycle w/ammonia ended up taking about a month...but atleast I know w/confidence that I have a good filter

 

[jlk]

If all you added to the 55g to cycle it was some flake food, I suspect your tank may not be fully cycled. With all the rotting food in the tank, I strongly suggest atleast two 50+% water changes asap along with good gravel vacs. Make sure you temperature match and properly condition all new water. Not only will this rotten food affect your parameters but rotten food typically will start to grow fungus within 24hrs. This is why is not the best choice for a fishless cycle. Your baby moor ingesting this is not a good idea and may overwhelm him with toxins.

Do you have a good liquid test kit such as the API fw master test kit? What do your parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph read? If not, please invest in one very soon- amazon has them very reasonably compared to a lfs. Ill post some links below with more info- please ask any questions!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/goldfish-101-11174823.html

 

[Congoman]

Like I said its just meant as a booster. By no means will it cycle your tank overnight but in y experience it shortened up the cycle by a a week or two. I also use it in the off chance there's an imbalance inu tank that I cannot correct with just water changes. I only use two specific products though and they have never failed me.

 

[smk83]

Hi JLK - no, not just the food flakes. I cycled for about a month with pure ammonia, flakes, pleanty of aeration and cranked up my heat for 86 degrees. I completed the cycle yesterday with the 24 hour test. Added 4ppm of ammonia, and within 24 hours the ammonia was 0; nitrites were 0, and nitrates were around 5ppm. I had previously had nitrite/nitrate spikes, which is when I did the water changes (50-80%). I followed the instructions of the following article, which I thought was extremely detailed:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

 

[jlk]

As far as your other two questions the one 280 will be enough the cartridge will just have to be replaced more often and you will have to do larger/more water changes to keep the nitrates and nitrites at acceptable lvls. As far as the food it's obv your goldfish is a scavenger so I would assume sinkers would be the way to go. My gdfish knowledge is pretty general I have never really kept them myself.

Actually, a 280 is not sufficient on a goldfish tank. You want to aim for a minimum of 10x the tank size. So, for a 55g, atleast 550gph of filtration but I run over double this on my 55's.

Replacing the cartidges is not a good idea unless its literally falling apart. Your filter media holds the majority of your good bacteria- throwing it in the garbage defeats the purpose of cycling a tank. It just simply needs to be swished once every week or so in some used tank water from a water change.

 

[Congoman]

If all you added to the 55g to cycle it was some flake food, I suspect your tank may not be fully cycled. With all the rotting food in the tank, I strongly suggest atleast two 50+% water changes asap along with good gravel vacs. Make sure you temperature match and properly condition all new water. Not only will this rotten food affect your parameters but rotten food typically will start to grow fungus within 24hrs. This is why is not the best choice for a fishless cycle. Your baby moor ingesting this is not a good idea and may overwhelm him with toxins.

Do you have a good liquid test kit such as the API fw master test kit? What do your parameters for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate & ph read? If not, please invest in one very soon- amazon has them very reasonably compared to a lfs. Ill post some links below with more info- please ask any questions!

I just learned about cycling but I already have fish. What now?! - Aquarium Advice

http://www.myaquariumclub.com/goldfish-101-11174823.html

Great advice just wanted to add that the best way to tell if your tank has been properly cycle is to test the water. If ammonia is 0 nitrites are 0 and nitrates are trace to 0 than you most likely have a good biological filter established and your tank has been properly cycled.

 

[jlk]

Hi JLK - no, not just the food flakes. I cycled for about a month with pure ammonia, flakes, pleanty of aeration and cranked up my heat for 86 degrees. I completed the cycle yesterday with the 24 hour test. Added 4ppm of ammonia, and within 24 hours the ammonia was 0; nitrites were 0, and nitrates were around 5ppm. I had previously had nitrite/nitrate spikes, which is when I did the water changes (50-80%). I followed the instructions of the following article, which I thought was extremely detailed:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...guide-and-faq-to-fishless-cycling-148283.html

Ah ha! You did not mention this, just the fish food though to only have 5ppm of nitrates from 4ppm of ammonia is questionable. Is this after doing a big water change or before?

 

[Congoman]

I agree with you jlk about the filtration I meant the 280 would be ok for the single goldfish. Rule if thumb you can never have to much filtration. And u didn't realize you were running a bio wheel I assumed you were running a cheap whisper type with the carbon cartridge that needs to be replaced periodically.